Signing and Building — Kindle Fire

You do not need to install the Android SDK. However, you will need to install the proper version of the Java Development Kit if you're using Windows. See the Java Development Kit section for details.

As with Android, the Kindle Fire build process generates a standard .apk file.

Preparing for Kindle Fire

You don't need to do anything different to prepare your app for release on Kindle Fire, but you should note the following device specifications and design your app content accordingly. Specifications listed below are in pixels.

Model

Resolution (w×h)

Status Bar (top)

Soft Keys Bar (bottom)

Kindle Fire

600 × 1024

27

60

Kindle Fire HD 7"

800 × 1280

35

78

Kindle Fire HD 8.9"

1200 × 1920

40

90

Also, note that Amazon prefers apps to occupy the entire screen. If you set the scale to letterbox in config.lua, make sure that you fill the "empty" space with actual content. See here for more information on content and scaling.

Java Package Name

When you build a Kindle Fire app using Corona, you must specify a package name. In general, you can specify any package name you like, but it must be chosen carefully because it should be unique to your application.

The traditional Java scheme is to use the reverse-domain format like com.acme, then append the name of a division/product, and finally append the name of the app. For example, com.acme.games.catchafish would be a good package name, assuming you own the acme.com domain name.

In some cases, the package name that results from using reverse-domain format may not be valid, and it must be modified before Corona will build your Kindle Fire app. This would be true in any of the following cases:

The package name contains a hyphen or other special character (com.three-amigos for example). In this case, convert the special character to an underscore: com.three_amigos.

One of the name components contains a digit or other invalid character at the beginning of an identifier (com.3amigos for example). In this case, try to convert the package name to something like com.threeamigos.

One of the name components contains a keyword, for example com.private.idaho. In this case, suffix that part of the package name with an underscore: com.private_.idaho.

Build Process

Important

If you aren't familiar with the available build settings for an app, please review them before proceeding with this section.

From the Corona Simulator, select File → Open... to load the project you wish to build.

Select File → Build → Android....

Fill in the information:

Application Name — by default, this will match your project folder; keep this name or specify another.

Version Code — this value must be an integer. Each time you update your app, you must increase the version code. It corresponds to the versionCode item detailed here. It is not visible to users.

Installation and Debugging

Once your app is compiled via Corona, the next step is to register as an Amazon Developer, configure your Kindle Fire for testing, and test/debug the app on a Kindle Fire device or the Kindle Fire Emulator.

If you haven't already signed up for an Amazon Developer account, please do so first.

Next, you'll need to set up your Kindle Fire tablet for testing. You can use Android Debug Bridge to connect your Kindle Fire tablet to a development computer for testing and debugging. Please refer to Amazon's instructional guide for details.